Girdle



B. MURDOCK 2,966,912

GIRDLE Jan. 3, 1961 Filed March 25, 1958 usea-Jae.

llliiiiiiiii INVENTOR :Benjumin Murdock ATTORNEY United States PatentGIRDLE Benjamin Murdock, New York, N.Y., assignor to FortunaFoundations, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar.25, 1958, Ser. No. 723,844

1 Claim. (Cl. 128-540) This invention relates to foundation garments,and more particularly to such garments worn on the lower torso and knownas girdles.

Figure control in the female form is today accepted as a technique whosepractice is important for the modern woman. While of course suchpractice means that the refinement of the lines of the body is forpurposes of fashion, this is not its sole aim. Equally important is itthat the way in which this is done be in a manner not merely notdetrimental to health, but aflirmatively, in a manner to increase thehealth and sense of well being of the woman. Further, and likewise aprime aim, the garment provided must be comfortable to wear. Creativeminds working in this field have dealt with these aims.

in a variety of ways. Generally, their work has produced girdlestructures which comprise an assemblage of a number of fabriccomponents, each making a particular contribution to the whole. Theassembly process with such garments has entailed numerous sewingoperations and has not always been most economical as to the utilizationof fabric.

In the present inventive structure it is a primary object to provide agirdle with unique provision for body control, which girdle in structureis not unduly complex, but is conceived to harness to the maximum extentthe inherent characteristics of the fabric comprising the garment. Thepractice of my invention permits a complex bias control where desiredwithout a concomitant complexity in the structure.

Another object herein is to achieve the foregoing object with thegreatest economy as to the quantity of fabric required, in that a singlecutting operation will provide a blank for inclusion in the garmentwhich otherwise would require more than one cutting operation. Byproviding such blanks of ingenious configuration, the number of sewingoperations to create the finished garment is also reduced.

Still another object is to permit the application of the principlestaught by my invention in any localized area of greater or lesser extentas desired embraced within the confines of the entire garment.

How these and many other objects are to be implemented will become clearthrough a consideration of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a panty girdle constructed according to myinvention; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a blank laid out prior to assembly into thepanty girdle of Fig. 1.

The garment It) in the drawings, in connection with which my inventionis illustrated, is of the type known as a panty girdle in that it hasleg openings, but it will be understood that my invention is equallyapplicable in a garment as is generally comprehended when the termgirdle is used, in that a girdle does not have leg openings. At the topof the garment is an incircling band 11 having a soft inner surfacewhere such band 11 contacts the body so that such band will not causediscomfort to the 2,966,912 Patented Jan. 3, 1961 wearer. There is arear center panel 12 stretchable only vertically, and rear side panels13 and 14 of two-way stretchable fabric. The arrows in the drawingappearing within each particular panel indicate the primary stretchcharacteristics of such panel. Seams 15 and 16 occur where the rear sidepanels are joined to the rear center panel 12.

At the front of the garment are laminate panels 20 and 21 joined at thefront center of the garment along vertical seam 22 and at the sides ofthe garment to the rear side panels 13 and 14 at seams 23 and 24respectively. The lower extremities of all panels, and also crotchinsert 25, define leg openings 26 and 27.

It will be seen that the laminate panels 20 and 21 are identical andmirror images of each other, and therefore a description of one willsufiice for both, and such further description of the laminate panelswill be made using laminate panel 20.

Laminate panel 20 has an outer portion 28 and an inner portion 29, suchportions 28 and 29 being superposed. Outer portion 28 is of two waystretch material disposed on the bias, with a primary direction ofstretch as indicated by the direction of its weft lines incliningdownwardly from the side seam 23 to the front seam 22 at the center ofthe garment, and a second primary direction of stretch at right anglesto the first. Inner portion 29 is also of two way stretchable materialhaving a primary direction of stretch inclining downwardly from thefront seam 22 at the center of the garment to side seam 23, and a secondprimary direction of stretch at right angles to the first as indicatedby the crossed arrows shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. It is apparent,therefore, that the first primary directions of stretch for portions 28and 29 cross each other in the assembled garment.

Laminate panel 20, having outer and inner portions 28 and 29respectively, is fashioned from a single blank 32 which is shown in theas-cut condition in Fig. 2. Blank 32 is bias cut from its parent sheetof material. The portions of blank 32 destined in the assembled garmentto be outer portion 28 and inner portion 29, are identified by thesesame idexed numerals in Fig. 1. To assemble the blank 32 into thegarment 10 the portions 28 and 29 are folded so that they lie superposedupon each other, upon fold line 33. An edge of the folded blank is thusprovided at such fold line 33 and such fold lines in the laminatedpanels 20 and 21 respectively are placed in opposed relationshipwhereupon they can be joined by a single line of stitching, to form thefront vertical seam 22. After folding along fold line 33 edges 34 and 35of blank 32 will coincide and in the assembled garment these are sewninto side seam 23.

Thus a unique girdle structure is provided which will give augmentedcontrol and support to the figure. Such augmented control is in thenature of a complex bias control by reason of the superposed laminae inthe panels 20 and 21, the primary directions of stretch in such laminaenot coinciding and being disposed on the bias.

While I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, it isapparent that changes and modifications may be made therein, as bytransposing the specific location of the characteristic superposedlaminae, and as so changed, a modified structure would still fall in theambit of my invention.

I claim:

In a girdle having a rear panel and side panels joined thereto, a pairof front laminate panels each comprising a single bias cut blank ofstretchable fabric folded upon itself along a substantially verticalline; the vertical folds of said laminate panels being joined to formthe central seam of said garment; said laminate panels at the freevertical edges thereof being seamed to said side panels andsubstantially overlying the abdominal region of a wearer; said laminatepanels thereby each comprising an innerportion of two way stretch fabrichaving .a prirnarydirection of stretch inclining downwardly from saidcentral seam and said side seam and a second primary direction ofstretch at right angles to said first primary direction of stretch, andan outer portion of two way stretch fabric superposed upon said innerportion, said outer portion being disposed upon a bias with the primarydirection of stretch thereof being downwardly inclined from said sideseam to said front seam, and a second primary direction of stretch atright angles to said first direction of stretch, said outer portionsubstantially extending from said central seam to said side panels.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGNPATENTS Great Britain Aug. 24, 1955

